Do You Know How to Read? “un chín”
This is what an eight year old boy in
the little community of La Altagracia, located in the southwest of the
Dominican Republic, answered me recently. “Un chín” means “a little” and is a very
typical Dominican expression. This particular little boy wanted to become a member of the new library we
have started in his village. Although he hardly knew how to read, we accepted
him, since it wouldn’t be long until he has learned. In the meantime, his mom
and dad will read with him the books he gets out of the library.
A few weeks ago we inaugurated the
Altagracia Library, that for now, consists of a big box full of children’s
books, kept at the home of one of the young people of the community. It is the
seventh in a chain of mini libraries that we are creating to promote reading
for all ages, but especially among children in the region. We have been able to
establish these libraries thanks to multiple donations, the last of them from
the companies DHL and Ordesa Laboratories, and from several friends in
Barcelona. The central one, that now has more than 600 members, is located in La Sagrada Familia parish in Sabana
Yegua (Azua), where the project originated. Others are cabinets or closets in
chapels in rural communities... and where there isn’t a chapel, the library is
a book box in the home of a volunteer who looks after it, as in the case of La
Altagracia.
